"Queen Orontea straightway bade unite Her council, and bespoke the assembled band:
`It still behoves us place the prowest wight Whom we can find, to guard our ports and strand.
And, to discover whom to take or slight, 'Tis fitting that we prove the warrior's hand;
Lest, to our loss, the election made be wrong, And we enthrone the weak and slay the strong.